The Phone Call
by Aida Caroti
Summary: Harry receives a phonecall after the events of 'Greater Love'. Spoilers for 16x5.
1. Chapter 1

A/N I feel personally victimized by the BBC. Seriously. They keep killing people, they need to calm down! Spoilers for 16x5.

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**The Phone Call**

Harry smiled as he saw the name dash across the screen. It had been a while since she'd called and he missed her and the updates he got on the Lyell centre. He sank back into his leather chair and clicked the button, dropping his pen and skidding the chair away from the wooden desk.

"Hello stranger" Harry grinned down the phone and ruffled a hand through his hair. Heavy breathing greeted his voice "Nikki, you alright?"

The breathing gasped, hitching on every breath. Irregular breaths huffing down the line. He leaned forward, frowning down the phone.

"It's Leo."

"He driving you mad? What's happened this time?" Harry smiled, another silly argument about Nikki getting too involved in a case and going off on one her mad missions. Nothing serious. Just a silly spat that Nikki needed to rant about. Everything was fine. It always was.

"Harry... Harry, he's dead." The voice was quiet, devoid of emotion and so unlike his Nikki's that he almost didn't recognize it. But it was her, it was her.

But she'd said…

Silence echoed down the line, the emptiness drifting across the Atlantic. Pain and shock filling him even as his mind cried out.

"How can he be dead" Harry choked, his vision blurring even as his head told him this couldn't be true. Leo couldn't have died. It just wasn't possible, he was far too alive, far too Leo to die. All those near death experiences, he'd survived. He couldn't die now. Not when he was miles away, not when they hadn't parted on best terms.

But Nikki would never lie.

"We were in Afghanistan... Leo he-"

"What the hell were you doing there?" His voice filled with anger at the thought of his friends, his family trotting off to a war torn country without even bothering to tell him.

Their ignorance of him now he had left hurt. Hurt because they were never far from his thoughts. But he seemed to rarely invade theirs.

It stung because they were his only family.

And now Leo was dead.

Part of his family gone, no warning. Just gone.

"What happened?" His eyes were closed, his hand fisted in his hair as he tried to put some sort of reign on his turbulent emotions. Leaning back on the chair he shut out this world and tried to ignore the pain.

"Harry..." Her voice begging, he knew she didn't want to tell him. It would make it real.

"Nikki, just tell me. I have to know." His voice was raspy, uneven.

"Suicide bomber" she whispered as ice settled in his chest "he saved us all, he saved me." He could believe that

But Harry had seen the bodies of soldiers caught up in explosions. He knew what had happened to Leo. Knew how many pieces he would have ended up in.

Leo couldn't of survived, not like he had in Budapest. No. This time, this death- was real.

"I'm coming home, I'll be there." He promised, already leaning forward to book the tickets, hands shaking as he skated over the keys that would send him home. Home to what was left of his broken and damaged family.

"I know"

Silence swam back across the line and Harry faltered. There was nothing he could do to comfort her and nothing she could do to comfort him. Nothing would make a difference.

Their breathing across the line was the only noise.

And somehow, that helped.

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A/N Hope you liked, there might be more I'm not sure!


	2. The Empty Office

A/N I have no excuses, this has been written a week waiting editing. Sorry.

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**The Empty Office**

It had been a long flight. A flight of screaming babies and turbulence.

A long flight of knowing that Leo was dead.

He couldn't forget it, couldn't get it from his mind. Those hours after the call from Nikki were a blur. He'd told his superiors but they hadn't understand, their thoughts showing on their faces. "_He was just a collegue_."

Leo had never been just a collegue to him. Not even in the early days. Leo was his mentor, his closest confident in the days before Nikki and his greatest teacher.

And now he was gone.

Nikki was all he had left of that time and he needed to hold her close and not let her get away from him. He needed her. More than ever.

She wasn't waiting for him. He half expected her to be. She knew he was coming.

The cab ride to the Lyell felt long and torturous, he just wanted Nikki.

But he was finally there, he was finally _home._

Harry strode through the doors with purpose and swept her into his arms, crushing her against his chest. Holding her close he tried to fill the emptiness in his chest, show her how much he'd missed her. She was holding some files and they were scrunched up between them like the virtual barrier that had been between them ever since he left.

"I still can't believe it." he murmered into her ear his arms clenching around her.

"It was horrible" Nikki sobbed "I keep thinking, hoping it was a dream."

Harry let go and looked behind her into Leo's office. The lack of Leo working behind the chest hurt and the knowledge he never would again hurt even more. Hurt so much it was hard to breathe. He brushed past her gently and walked in.

The room was like it always was, photos dotting the sides, awards on the shelves and Leo's dusty tomes lining the bookcase. It still smelt of Leo and Harry inhaled deeply wondering how long it would take for the smell to fade. Part of him wished it never would.

There was a photo on the desk of the three of them at some charity function, they looked happy; Nikki's radiance shinning out from the photo like a beacon. The photo had pride place next to a photo of Leo's wife and daughter.

Leo's family. Together.

It made the lump in his throat grow larger.

"He wasn't angry at you, you know?" Nikki said softly a hand resting in the middle of his back. "I think he was rather pleased that you had done so well since training under him."

"I didn't want to leave but the job, proffersorship."

"I know and so did he. Just took him a while. I think he was secretly kind of jealous." Nikki smiled fondly.

"This was all he ever wanted Niks." Harry ran a hand over Leo's worn chair. "This place was everything to him."

"It's going to be hard to do this without him."

"You don't have to stay here"

"I do. I owe it to him to keep this place going."

Harry shook his head slightly. This place could never be the same without Leo, there was no point to being here any more. Why couldn't Nikki see that?

"Harry this is all I have of him."

Harry looked away, out through the window at the familiar view. "Leo wouldn't want you to be unhappy either."

"Who says I'm unhappy?"

"You will be" Harry said firmly turning back to her "You don't have to stay here, come with me to New York. Our team could do with someone like you."

"Harry..."

"No I'm serious. Come to new York."

"This is my home; I love this place and this job. I can't just abandon everything to go to America!" Nikki exclaimed.

"New York could be your home, it's not the Lyell and there's no Leo but we could be together, like we were." Harry pleaded gently.

"If you want to be together so bad, why did you leave us!"

"You know why. The job was a good opportunity for me."

"But what about me! You just left me!"

"Nikki..."

"No. It was a good opportunity. But there are plenty of good jobs over here, you had a good job!"

"I wanted something different, why can't you just understand." Harry said, their old argument reigniting.

"You spent a week at my apartment and then you were gone. We were so close Harry to finally getting..." Nikki broke off and dropped her head into her hands.

He knew what she was thinking.

"It's too sudden... I just can't. I can't go with you and put myself through not knowing." Nikki raised her head and glared, blonde flyaways bouncing. "I have to know where I stand."

He didn't know how to respond. He didn't know if he could give her what he wanted. He didn't know if she really wanted it or if it was just the pain of losing Leo.

This wasn't the time.

"We can see Niks." Harry looked around the room. "I really missed you both. My team isn't as good." He said lightly, his body tense. The need to relieve the tension had never been greater.

"No one is better than us" Nikki smiled and Harry relaxed.

It would be okay, they could deal with this.

Baby steps.

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a/n Let me know what you thought and whether you want to see more. Apologies again.


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